Michelangelo Cicogna

Studio Legale De Berti Jacchia Franchini Forlani

Milan www.dejalex.com

m.cicogna@dejalex.com Tel: +3902725541

Biography

Michelangelo Cicogna has acted both as counsel and arbitrator in ad hoc and administered procedures, under a variety of rules, including ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, MKAS, CAM, Madrid, AIA, DIS, SCC, CCIR, SCAI and the PCA, dealing with complex litigation, including multiparty and parallel arbitrations, across a wide range of sectors. Author of numerous publications, he teaches advocacy in international arbitration at Luigi Bocconi University. He is a member of the ICC Commission, officer of the IBA International Arbitration Committee and co-founder of ArbIt.

What inspired you to pursue a career in arbitration?

At the beginning, if truth be told, it was only the strong aspiration to do something truly international without having a clear idea of what was expected of me.

After graduation, I won a scholarship at the Chamber of Arbitration in Milan. It is there that I discovered arbitration and it is only once inside that world that I have appreciated its incredible features and potential for my future.

One can connect dots only backwards. And in my case the knowledge of foreign languages, a certain passion for justice, and lucky events of life brought me to pursuing such a career.

What part of your practice do you enjoy the most? Why?

Trying to pick a few select areas, I would mention three.

First sitting as an arbitrator, as I consider such a role as a true honour. I am sitting quite often in arbitral tribunals and I find the possibility to contribute to the development of the international trade and business, by rendering justice, an incredible opportunity and, in a way, a coronation of a career.

The second part is the advocacy as counsel. This is the actual fun in arbitration, where one can contribute to the outcome of a case with his dedication and, why not, talent.

The third aspect that I enjoy the most is the human context in the international arbitration world. I don’t want to appear rhetorical, but I do consider the vast majority of the people in the international arbitration arena incredibly interesting and gifted persons, with whom spending time (whether in cases or social events) is at the same time enjoyable and enriching.

In your experience, what are the benefits and challenges of alternative dispute resolution compared to more traditional methods?

The biggest benefit of all the alternative dispute resolution methods in an international environment is the possibility to frame the fundamentals of those proceedings (venue, language, law, counsel, etc) in a way that can make both parties feel comfortable about the rules of the game. This brings predictability and trust in the business and has no price.

When it goes to the challenges, probably the biggest one is the need to remain credible in the eyes of the users and not to be seen as a self-referential machine just good for enriching a few stakeholders. The noble purpose of a system born to support business and international trade should be preserved.

Given the increasing amount of conflicts arbitrators and counsel are experiencing, should there be a set of universal conflict principals across arbitration institutions?

Every proposal that is meant to be “universal” finds me sceptical. I consider that conflicts can be avoided by using the various soft-law tools which are already available on the market. Not because I am an officer of IBA but I consider the IBA Guidelines on Conflict of Interest still a valuable instrument to avoid situations of conflict.

Should tribunals be more bullish about corruption defences and examining evidence for corruption in proceedings?

No one should underestimate the intrinsic negative disvalue of corruption, one of the most heinous crimes in the international economy. However, exactly for that reason, I consider allegations of corruption as a very serious thing, to be treated carefully.

Sometimes corruption is raised as a mere defence and only in arbitration, without the support of investigations by criminal courts. And relying on the limited investigative powers of an arbitral tribunal (much more limited compared to public prosecutors) for a decision on alleged episodes of corruption, even more so when the subjects of the alleged corruption (perpetrator, corrupt, corruptor etc.) are not party to the arbitration, can be dangerous, bring wrong decisions and cause damage to persons who may ultimately be found innocent.

Tribunals should be sensitive to the issue of corruption but should not commit the sin of hubris. If a certain situation “smells” of corruption but the parties for one reason or another decided not to involve the public prosecutors in the competent jurisdiction, I would say that the tribunal should first understand why that inaction occurred.

In your experience, what advantages can clients benefit from in hiring a multilingual arbitrator?

Difficult for me to say. I only speak four languages, but there are colleagues who speak six, seven and more. I can only say that every foreign language is a window to diversity and culture. Certainly, those who invested time in their life to learn foreign languages show some curiosity that others may not have. And curiosity is crucial when acting as arbitrator. But I would not go further than that, as I know excellent arbitrators that do speak only their native language (lucky them, it is English).

You are a member of the ICC commission on arbitration, officer of IBA arbitration Committee, among other groups, and co-founded ArbIt, the Italian Forum for Arbitration. How do you believe these activities enhance your career?

I believe that these organisations/groups are crucial first for the development of international arbitration and to spread its culture and its best practices worldwide.

Then, of course, I cannot deny that they also represent a good networking platform, mostly because they give you a unique occasion to collaborate with fantastic colleagues. But the networking comes after the spirit of service that is embodied in the participation of those groups.

What inspired you to pursue your arbitration-related training and coaching activities? How important is it for the more established generation of arbitrators to develop the upand-coming generation?

The coaching activity started by chance, 17 years ago. At the beginning, the motivation was very simple, I was attending the moot as arbitrator and once I realised that Italy was not represented with any university, I wanted to bring one. Bocconi immediately accepted the challenge. It is only after that I realised how important it was for the students. And now I can say this is probably one of the most rewarding activities I am involved with. Students of my teams over the 17 years started amazing careers in international arbitration, with top roles in different areas (counsel, in-house, in arbitral institutions, etc) and in different places of the world. The moot is the closest thing to a real arbitration that a young lawyer can experience and the number of connections and networking opportunities that can be achieved is unparalleled. The legacy of the coaching activity is confirmed by the fact that former students remain so fond of the experience that now many of them support me as co-coaches, helping the next generations of students.

Peers and clients say: “He is one of the most admired and well-known arbitration practitioners in Italy” “He is a highly recommended name in the arbitration space” “Michelangelo is a great chairman in arbitration proceedings”